The increased need for a speed across network platforms has increased the popularity of frame relay networks. Frame relay networks provide high-speed packet switching and are generally used to connect multiple local area networks (LANs). Frame relay networks exploit the notion of virtual connections. These virtual connections provide point-to-point connections between sites. The bandwidth of each of the virtual connections may be shared among multiple applications. Delay determination is difficult in conventional frame relay networks for a couple of reasons. First, many conventional frame relay networks use connection-less infrastructures that can overcome equipment or path failures within the network. Virtual connections that are provisioned across such connection-less infrastructures may take different paths at different points in time, and, as a result, each path may have different delay characteristics.
Second, the delay may vary in accordance with resource utilization and, thus, is not constant. Frame relay networks transmit frames that may encounter queuing or buffering as they traverse the network. The degree of buffering is usually a function of resource utilization within a network. In general, as resource utilization increases, additional traffic may need to be buffered until the resources are available. This also results in a dynamic variation in delay for the virtual connections in a frame relay network.
This inability to easily determine delay in frame relay networks is frustrating to many customers. Many customers have migrated from private line environments to frame relay networks. In private line environments, the delay across connections is usually quite constant. The inability to accurately calculate delays in frame relay networks makes frame relay networks less desirable to many customers.